Contact with nature is good for us. A new guide presents how we can use the power of nature for children’s health and well-being. This guest article was redacted in Spanish from  Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD from the organisation Les Trenades. Below we propose a translation but you can read the original Spanish version here 

If we think back to our own childhood, it is highly likely that our happiest memories are linked to natural environments: playing in a wood, running through a park or jumping over waves on the beach. However, in an increasingly urbanised and digitalised world, new generations are growing up further and further removed from the natural environment.

The current scientific evidence is compelling: we are part of nature and our physical, mental and emotional health is intimately linked to our contact with it. To address this disconnect and provide practical tools – Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD – a psychologist and environmental educator, and Montse Masó-Aguado, an environmental scientist and nurse, produced the Health and Nature Guide (2024). The guide sets out a roadmap for integrating this duality into the lives of children and young people.

The origin: The Catalonia Health and Nature Platform

The creation of this guide is not an isolated event, but the result of a collaborative and strategic effort. The document has been produced within the framework of the Thematic Group on Health and Nature for Children, Adolescents and Young People (TSN IAJ), led in 2024 by the Catalan Society for Environmental Education (SCEA) and in collaboration with the Network for Nature Conservation (XCN), with the support of the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition of the Government of Catalonia.

The main objective of this framework is to highlight how a connection with nature acts as a factor in “salutogenesis”; that is, a positive resource that promotes health and well-being through prevention and resilience, rather than focusing solely on treating illness. The guide compiles recommendations as well as experiences, research and initiatives to connect children and young people with the environment, establishing a solid theoretical framework and offering practical levels of intervention.

The tangible benefits of “getting back to nature”.

In 1984, the biologist Edward O. Wilson popularised the term “biophilia”, the innate tendency of humans to focus their attention on other organisms and natural processes. When children lack this contact, they are exposed to what author Richard Louv termed “nature deficit disorder”, associated with attention difficulties, obesity and higher rates of physical and emotional illness.

Fortunately, reversing this has immediate and profound effects. Contact with nature brings holistic benefits to young children, notably its impact on cognitive and emotional development, the mitigation of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the improvement of physical and immune health.

What is the necessary “dose”? To reap these benefits, a key question arises: how much nature do we need?

The Global Alliance for Renaturalising Child and Youth Health recommends that children spend at least 12 hours a week in a natural environment. However, evidence suggests that significant effects on well-being can already be observed with just 2 hours a week.

At an urban level, the guide adopts the 3-30-300 nature recommendation proposed by Cecil Konijnendijk: everyone should be able to see at least three trees from their window, live in a neighbourhood with 30% vegetation cover, and have a high-quality green or blue space within 300 metres of their home.

But, most importantly, it is the type of activity we engage in within nature, and even our self-perceived biodiversity. Not everyone experiences and lives nature in the same way, and therefore the effects vary.

Levels of engagement with nature

In this guide, Cervera-Buisán and Masó present a model for engaging with nature across four levels of intervention, which can inspire, amongst others, national parks, health centres, and educational, social and/or environmental organisations:

• Level 1 – Nature in everyday life: Integrating green infrastructure into cities and school playgrounds.
• Level 2 – Exploration: Sports and environmental education activities that encourage spontaneous contact.
• Level 3 – Deep connection: Immersive experiences, environmental volunteering and mindfulness practices.
• Level 4 – Therapeutic interventions: Specific health programmes designed by professionals to treat specific disorders.

A healthy future requires a healthy planet

Economic and social inequality remains one of the greatest barriers to accessing nature. Ensuring that all children, regardless of the socio-economic status of their neighbourhood, have access to these spaces is a matter of equity and public health.

Fostering children’s connection with nature not only ensures healthier and more resilient adults, but also cultivates citizens committed to caring for the environment. Because, ultimately, there can be no human health without planetary health.

You can download the Health and Nature Guide both in Catalan and its non-official (automated Deepl) translation of the guide in English.

Download the guide in Catalan Download the guide in English (unofficial translation)